


Tragedy

by British_Racing_Green



Category: Free!
Genre: Coach Tachibana Makoto, Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Inspired by Real Events, M/M, Olympic Swimmer Nanase Haruka, Pro Swimmer Nanase Haruka, Protective Tachibana Makoto, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 13:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20026693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/British_Racing_Green/pseuds/British_Racing_Green
Summary: A tragedy in Iwatobi greatly upsets Haru and Makoto.





	Tragedy

**Author's Note:**

> I own no rights to the Free! franchise.

Though they were at a major international championship, Haru and Makoto couldn’t take their eyes off of the news.

They’d woken up to the horrible scenes of a tragedy in their hometown of Iwatobi. Streets and buildings they knew from their youth had been affected. People they knew had been hurt. But ‘hurt’ was the best they could hope for. The images coming from the TV in their hotel room and their phones depicted an event that they just _knew_ had taken people. Very little of their breakfast was eaten with the rest of the Japanese team.

Calls and texts from family and friends confirming their safety were of great comfort to the pair as their shuttle bus arrived at the venue.

The day carried on with the couple in a state of limbo. They wanted to know nothing because they could do nothing but swim and coach whilst there, yet they wanted to know everything from anyone who might have heard the latest news, seen the latest pictures, or had knowledge of the latest numbers. Some of the other swimmers knew Haru and Makoto came from the affected town but were warned off asking any questions by Rin and Ikuya.

It wasn’t until the day’s events were over and they were in bed together watching the full summary of the facts and figures on the late night news that it really began to hit home for the pair.

They were sure that people who they knew from their formative years were gone and that their little hometown would now never be quite the same again. Sure they lived in an upmarket Tokyo apartment now, but you could never take Iwatobi out of them.

The news programme was supposed to be half-an-hour long, but after 20 minutes of this one story Makoto was beginning to break. He’d tried to keep his chin up and composure all day, but scene after scene and eyewitness account after eyewitness account was now taking its toll. Tears were forming in his beautiful green eyes when an image of a destroyed Iwatobi-chan mascot plushy was shown.

This caused Haru to burst into tears and collapse into Makoto’s lap. His loud, wounded sobs though muffled by the larger man’s body and the bed sheets, echoed around their room.

And that was what finally pushed Makoto over the edge.

He pulled the TV’s plug out of the wall socket and switched the room’s lights off from a little remote on his bedside table before picking Haru up and laying the pair of them down on their bed.

They’d never hugged each other so tightly before. But then again they’d never seriously thought about the possibility of one losing the other before. And it terrified them.

The next morning Haru took to his social media pages, as he felt as a native Iwatobian he had to do _something._ So he thought of what to say, set up his phone and pushed record.

“Hello everyone.” He said with a small bow. “Like you, I’m deeply upset by what happened yesterday in Iwatobi. I can’t think of anything else to say or do from thousands of miles away except for…except for to tell you to make sure you hold your loved ones that little bit harder today, and to never forget to say ‘I love you’.

**Author's Note:**

> If it's the right word, this story was 'inspired' by the KyoAni arson attack.  
This heartbreaking event upset me very much, and this small scene (and Haru's words at the end) have helped me in my own way to move on.  
I have attempted to keep the nature of the event in this story as vague as possible as I don't want to directly link this story with the attack.


End file.
